Ms Anne Marie Hoey:

It is important to note that people do travel and we do want them to come back. The experience people gain when they travel is always valuable to our service when they come back. In the past number of years, the number of doctors employed by the HSE has increased by 1,900. That is a net increase after we replace all our vacancies and so on. As Mr. Mulvany said, the non-consultant hospital doctors agreement concluded recently. This aims to address a number of the concerns non-consultant hospital doctors would have and should serve to improve the retention of doctors in our system. The consultant contract is going through the final stages of consultation and, hopefully, will be implemented soon. Again, it has attractive terms and conditions.

Regarding the Deputy's point, the salary comparison for doctors in Ireland versus some of our nearest neighbours is attractive. If we compare the salaries on offer in Ireland for consultants under the new contract to the nearest jurisdictions, they compare favourably.